Write One Page Per Day – 36/365 – February 5, 2018

David woke in the dark basement of the temple, unaware of his surroundings. Each breath caused spasms in his back as the arrow that was still there shifted. He moaned and moved to sit up placing his hand firmly on the satchel he hadn’t noticed previously. The excitement of still having the letter made him sit up too fast and he felt the room spin. He groaned in pain as the arrow brushed against the wall behind him.

“I need to get this thing out of me.” He muttered to himself trying to see anything in the dark. “And I need to find a light.”

David pulled the satchel into his lap and opened it, feeling blindly for the flint that he kept safe from the weather in there. He pulled the stone from the bag and, using the buckle on his satchel, made a spark. The flash of light was intense, and he wasn’t prepared for it. He tried again, this time producing the spark outwardly under the satchel.

The flash yielded a brief glimpse of the room. A few more sparks helped him notice a small oil lamp to his right. He fastened the satchel around his waist carefully avoiding the implement of his suffering, and gingerly put his feet on the floor.

Hopefully there’s oil in the lamp, otherwise it looks like I’m here in the dark trying to get out of this mess.

Using the flint a few more times, he successfully made it to the lamp without injury. He pulled the glass off the top of it and, using the flint a few more times successfully got it lit. The light, as dim as it was, seemed bright to him.

“Hello?” He heard muffled through the ceiling above him, it was a woman’s voice. “Father Alden?”

“Hello!” He called out as loud as he could, his voice broke and he couldn’t say anything else. He felt very thirsty, and feverish he suddenly realized.

He moved toward the ladder as he heard foot steps above him do the same. There was a grinding noise from the top of the ladder and the hatch above him opened, letting light pour through the opening.

“Thank the gods!” David said, as the face of a young woman peered down at him.

“What are you doing down there?” She asked. “Where is Father Alden?”

“I don’t know where Alden is,” David replied, “but I assume he brought me down here.”

“You don’t look well.” She said, as she furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine once I can get to a healer.” David said turning around, “I’ve been shot, and need someone to remove this arrow from my back.”

“Oh no!” The woman said as she jumped on the ladder and descended quickly. “Let me look at that.”

“Are you practiced in healing?” David asked as she reached the bottom.

“I’ve had to learn with the increase in bandit activity recently. My father’s sheep keep going missing, occasionally they come back with an arrow in their side.” She replied.

“What’s your name?”

“Annabelle.” She replied, “It doesn’t seem to have pierced anything important, but this is going to hurt.”

“What-” David managed to get out as she pulled the arrow from his back.